Directions: Underline the words in the story as you
find them,
unscramble them and write them in the boxes below.
George Washington Carver was born in Missouri on the Moses Carver
plantation. His parents were slaves. His father died right before
George was born, then while he was still a baby, slave traders
kidnapped him and his mother. Only George was returned to the
plantation.
When he was a baby, he had a disease called whooping cough . It left
him sickly and he couldn't do hard work like the other slaves. His
chores were cooking and sewing. He loved to work in the garden.
He taught himself to read. He wanted to get an education. When he was
12 years old, he left home to attend a black school. There was only one
teacher with 75 children in a small room. While other children played
at recess, he studied. He studied at home before and after he did his
chores. Soon he knew more than his teacher.
He wrote to a college to enroll and they accepted him, but when they
found out he was black, they told him he couldn't attend.
After five more years, when he was 30 years old, he was accepted at a
college in Iowa. He did so well, his teacher helped him to get a
transfer to Iowa State College where he studied
botany . He learned about plants and farming. He became the best botany
student on campus.
After he graduated, they asked him to teach biology to the beginning
students.
Later he was asked to teach at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.
Carver started studying diseases which were attacking the farmers'
crops. He also did a lot of experimenting to find new ways to use
different plants. He made more than 300 products from peanuts. He even
made soap and ink from peanuts. From sweet potatoes, he made 118
products, including flour and candy. He made 75 products from pecans
and even made a building material for walls from cotton stalks. He had
many good ideas! Money, stylish clothes, and fine cars were not
important to him. He thought the truly successful person was the one
who had learned to serve others.
He was one of the finest scientists the world has ever known.